As building constructions are exposed to weather conditions such as sunlight, rain and snow, and pollution for a prolonged period of time, their exterior walls may be damaged. In order to repair such damage, a remodeling process may be used.
Also, in the interior of a building construction, decorative and functional panels may be attached to the interior walls of the building construction for repair of damage, display of goods, or remodeling of the interior. For such panels, prefabricated panels may be used which are made of bent metal sheets or aluminum sheets.
Such panels, which have an elongated rectangular structure, are fixed to a wall by means of nails or the like in a state of being vertically stacked in an end-to-end abutted manner.
However, since a number of nails must be used upon fixing such panels to a wall in the above mentioned manner, an installation process is prolonged. Furthermore, where this nailing process is applied to an old building construction, it may greatly damage the building construction.
Moreover, the nails used to fix the panels to the wall of such an old building construction provide paths for allowing rainwater to penetrate into the concrete of the building construction, thereby causing the concrete to be rapidly weakened.
Meanwhile, such panels have a limited length and a limited width for convenience of transportation and workability. For this reason, where these panels are attached to a building construction, they must be overlapped with one another while forming longitudinal junctions at certain intervals. Furthermore, these panels have a drawback in that they have no accessory for finishing the corners and upper/lower ends of the building construction.
Another example of panels configured to be used for the above mentioned purpose is disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 0134667. This utility model discloses insulating panels for roofs. Each insulating panel is formed, at both longitudinal ends thereof, with inner and outer coupling portions, respectively, so that the insulating panels are serially coupled. Each insulating panel is also provided at upper and lower ends thereof with inwardly-bent portions shaped in such a manner that one bent portion has a size to be fitted around the other bent portion, respectively. Accordingly, adjacent insulating panels can be coupled in accordance with a fitted coupling between the bent portions respectively provided at the facing ends thereof. However, since these insulating panels are made of a material other than metal sheets, and the coupling portions thereof have an insufficient rigidity, they may be bent or separated from one another when an external force is applied thereto.
Although the above mentioned structure is applicable to insulating panels, it cannot be applied to non-insulating panels made of, for example, aluminum or other metal sheets. In the latter case, therefore, it is impossible to eliminate drawbacks caused by the fact that the panels have insufficient strength against an external force applied thereto.